Charizard: Dragon’s Rivalry
by nightdragon0
Summary: A short story from Charizard’s point of view after the Silver League’s ‘Johto Photo Finish’ episode. Trainers can certainly have a rivals, so why not Pokemon too? And Charizard finds his in the form of Blaziken. [Completed]


_Pokemon and all related trademarks belong to Nintendo. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission._

_Author's note: This does contain spoilers for the end of the Silver League tournament, just to inform everyone. It's also sort of a sequel to 'First Day Out', my other fic about Charizard._

* * *

**Charizard: Dragon's Rivalry**

By nightdragon0

I've faced so much since that day I was left at the Charizitic Valley.

I've faced my own trails in the valley; learning, adapting and developing in my own style. But even then, it wasn't the end of my adventures alongside him. Each time I get a chance to come back, I feel that it's even harder for me to leave.

I battled that Entei made out of dreams, as they tell me. They say it was impossible to defeat...well, I almost won. Almost, but not quite.

I did emerge victorious against both a Dragonite and a Gym Leader's Dragonair. And I took down three opponents in a row for the Silver League.

But...that moment keeps replaying in my mind. Ironically, the moment I was least aware of...the moment of my defeat.

A Blaziken, he was called. Another fiery warrior, like myself. More than anything else at that time, it was my pride on the line. And I just couldn't take it.

I still remember that moment, feeling my strength give out on me. Feeling the cold, hard ground as it hit my face. Looking up into his eyes, seeing...

* * *

"Rarghh..."

"You're up!" A female voice cried out.

"Ugh... Charla?!"

"Of course it's me!" Charla's orange Charizard face came into my view. As usual, she had that cute pink bow on her head. "Do you remember what happened?"

"The tournament. Damn, I..."

"No not that! You were shot remember?"

"Shot...?!"

Charla pulled my left wing into view, revealing a section of it wrapped in bandages.

"Yeah, I remember now." I groaned. "I was flying back and...I was tired, landed by a lake for a drink. And then, I didn't know what hit me."

"Some Team Rocket humans were around and one fired a gun. But the wound isn't very bad and it'll heal." Charla looked down. "Luckily a trainer came by with his Pokemon. They're the ones who brought you back here. Lisa and I came down soon after."

Yeah, I did remember now, briefly seeing those humans in black clothing with the 'R's on their chests. They weren't as weak as the duo with the Meowth that I personally trashed on multiple occasions. Guess there were more of their kind about.

"Where is here?" I glanced around. I was lying on a stretcher in a place that looked much like the inside of a Pokemon Center.

"In the house of that old human with white hair and the funny accent."

"Oh, must be that old Oak human. Yes, this does look like his place." I closed my eyes. "Wait, does Ash know about my accident?"

"Not yet. He's traveling to another region and hasn't been contactable." Charla replied.

"Good, maybe that's better. Don't want him worrying about me."

"Well, nice to see you're looking better." A third voice added in.

I froze at that one, also because I recognized it. Not in a comfortable way though.

"You!" I gasped.

That Blaziken, the same one from the League.

"Be careful when you're out there." He continued. "It can get pretty rough for us. You're lucky my trainer and I were around to help you out."

"Thanks for the advice." I muttered sarcastically.

"You two know each other?" Charla asked.

"Well, we never really had a chance to get acquainted while we were bashing each other about." Blaziken leaned against a wall and folded his arms.

"Grrrr...you just got lucky." I growled.

"Perhaps, but I'll give you credit for a couple of things. Hitting me so hard that it took me out of the next round." He grinned. "And the other is causing the same trainer to lose two League Competitions."

"Why you!!"

"Calm down!" Charla pulled my arm. "You're in no condition to be getting so worked up!"

"Take the lady's advice too." Blaziken waved. "Don't know how long Harrison will be staying around here, but I guess I'll see you again sometime."

"Rrrrrrrr..." I snarled in frustration, watching him exit the room.

* * *

There was lots of talk over the next three days and I got the part of it I needed to understand. Those two humans who'd attacked me had been caught after being found unconscious close by. It was nothing Blaziken or his trainer had done and I don't remember fighting either.

The old white haired human, along with his kid assistant, the trainer Harrison and Lisa apparently had a lot to discuss. I really had no idea what they were talking about, but I didn't concern myself with that.

I never liked indoors much and I took to resting outside in the fields while my wing healed.

Still, it wasn't entirely peaceful here. I found out that Ash had left all the other Pokemon here, except for you know who? The yellow rat of course. Not that I don't like him; we just do things differently.

Well point was that I never really associated with the others, despite the fact that we were supposed to be part of a team. Guess it's just not in my nature to be very sociable.

Some of them would occasionally throw me glances from a distance. Had some never seen me before? Were they just afraid? Or simply staring and going 'Look, there's the dragon that lost Ash the critical match!'

There really was no way to tell and I just dragged my food off to an isolated spot to sit by myself.

* * *

At the dawn of the fourth day, a huge thunderstorm blew up. I happened to be sleeping under the sheltered porch at that time and opened my eyes to see the rain pouring down.

"You seem troubled." A familiar voice spoke.

It was him, the old Scyther. The one from the Orange Islands and who was now with the kid, Tracy.

"I hate these storms." I blurted out. "I was abandoned and nearly died in one of these when I was younger. Ash was the one who helped me out."

"Easy for you to say, growing up around humans." He huffed. "When you live life out there, you really have to take shelter."

"Hey I know. The valley has caves around at least."

Nothing else was said as we stood there, staring at the rain. There wasn't a need for us to start a 'casual conversation' as the humans would.

But then he suddenly looked up, glancing off into the distance.

"Something's wrong." He muttered. "I heard it."

"What?"

"There." He pointed. "You'd best stay here. I'll take a look."

Seeing him run off into the storm just made me get to my feet. I wasn't about to let that old Scyther beat me to anything, even if it meant...

Taking a deep breath, I raised my wings to shelter myself as much as I could and followed.

We soon arrived at a sloping area and it became apparent what the cause of concern was. A group of Oddish was gathered nearby, screaming in panic because one of their number had been caught beneath a fallen tree. There were two figures there trying to help. One was the human trainer, Harrison.

And the other: Blaziken.

"Hey it's you guys!" Harrison looked up, shouting over the din of the thunder. "Great timing! We need some help getting this little guy out!"

Scyther and I nodded and got into position.

"You out in the rain?" Blaziken muttered. "That's something I wouldn't expect."

"Hah, speak for yourself." I growled.

"Thanks everyone." Harrison grinned. "There wasn't a pouring thunderstorm the last time I did a rescue operation like this. Ready then? One...two...three!"

The four of us were able to lift to fallen tree enough for Harrison to get the trapped Oddish out.

"Whew, there you go!" The human trainer pushed the Oddish up the slop.

We were all standing there panting when a bolt of lightning suddenly struck another tree nearby. All of us hit the ground as the Oddish ran away.

I was momentarily dazed, but when I looked up, I saw the tree falling towards us.

"Gargh! My foot's stuck!" Harrison screamed from behind. His right foot had gotten caught beneath the first fallen tree trunk, leaving him directly in the path of the second one.

Instinctively, I slammed a shoulder against the falling tree. I found Blaziken had done the same thing with the intention of protecting his trainer. It was very heavy and we were in a bad position too.

"Hey!" Scyther called. He'd managed to jump clear of the falling tree.

"Go get help!" I shouted. "You're the fastest!"

"You'll..."

"Just don't argue with me this time and go you old fool!"

Scyther did agree, for he immediately ran off.

"Go help your trainer." I said, staring into Blaziken's eyes.

"Ugh...you can't hold this thing by yourself!" He protested.

"Why? Think I'm too weak to?" I growled.

"Fine! You help him, please!"

"And leave you alone with his thing? Not a chance!"

"Hahah, stubborn idiot." Blaziken hissed.

"Same goes for you!"

I don't know how much of that exchange the human actually understood, but there was a look of concern on his face as he struggled to free himself.

Blaziken and I just kept staring into each other's eyes. I actually forgot all about the aching in my muscles and the rain beating down on my back.

Finally, the boy managed to scramble out and we dropped the heavy tree trunk. By that time, the other voices were all close by.

* * *

"Thanks again Charizard, I really owe you and Blaziken." Harrison raised a hand and petted my snout.

I let out a triumphant growl as the others gathered around. After a few more days, I was finally ready to head back home.

"Hey..." Blaziken was standing behind his trainer. "Thanks."

"That was a favor on the part of a fellow warrior." I grinned. "Next time you see me, you'll be seeing stars too."

"Humph, looking forward to getting your tail kicked again." He replied. "Well I'm up for a challenge anytime!"

"You're on!" I raised a fist, and Blaziken beat his fist against mine. Consider that a handshake if you'd like to put it into human terms.

"Hey guys!" Tracy came running out with a camera in hand. "How about a photo, to show Ash how we're doing?"

Naturally, everyone agreed and all of us started moving into position. Blaziken came up and stood beside me.

"I'm gonna beat you the next time, with or without my trainer." I whispered.

"Same here." He grinned. "Same here."

You know what? If trainers can have a rival, then so can I.

* * *

Journeying with Charla and Lisa, it wasn't long before I was back at the valley.

We found a new Charizard had arrived when we'd been gone and Lisa invited him to stay. He was a little odd in the sense that he had some strange brown colorings at his face and part of his wings, but from what the others told me, he was a very good fighter.

One day though, he mumbled something as I happened to walk past.

"Hey, it's you. I hope I was in time to help you out."

"Hmm?" I asked.

"Erm, I meant your wing's looking a lot better." He said. "I was hoping you'd be able to do a flight round the valley with me. I'm still not too familiar with the surroundings."

"Well, sure. Just follow me!"

But as I took to the sky, something just came to mind. There was something about the way he spoke to me. It was almost like the way Blaziken did, in the sense that we were competitors who'd battled each other before. Rivals if you'd call it.

Still, I'm sure I'd remember if I'd fought a Charizard with a strange coloring like his before.

Well, perhaps I'll ask him another time. I'm just your typical ambitious dragon with a bright future ahead, and I'll keep flying towards that.

No matter what happens.

**--- END ---**

* * *

_Author's note: Well, thanks for taking the time to browse through this, another of the random ideas I've had in my mind for a while._

_Since Charizard doesn't exactly make the best narrator, I'll clear things up a bit. But there are spoilers here if you jumped all the way to the bottom._

_The Charizard with the odd colorings is the clone Charizard from 'Mewtwo Strikes Back' and 'Mewtwo Returns'. At the end of the latter movie, all the clones went out to live amongst the real Pokemon._

_I just thought it would be fitting for the 'clone' Charizard to go to the Charizitic Valley._

_Ash's Charizard was attacked by a couple of Team Rocket grunts in this fic, and the 'clone' Charizard helped him, knocking the grunts out. And as we know, Charizard lost a battle to the 'clone' during the first movie. Mewtwo erased everyone's memories of the incident, which is why the 'clone' remembers, but Ash's Charizard doesn't._


End file.
